What Region / Variety do you think will take off?

Said differently, what region and/ or variety do you think we’ll be kicking ourselves for not buying more of in 10, 15, 20 years? I got into wine only a few years ago and periodically read posts alluding to times when burgundy and Bordeaux (among others) could be had for much more favorable pricing. Personally, I look at German Rieslings and see a lot of room for upward price movement relative to the level of quality of many wines produced there. Loire Chenin is another one that comes to mind. Just curious on others’ thoughts and looking to promote some discussion.

Piedmont. Those $50-$100 Cru Barolo (or is it Baroli) will triple in price once the word gets out!

Etna. Already happening.

All the signs are there for Paso Robles to be a premier region in the coming decades. More investment, more experience, older vines, more vineyard knowledge. Even in the last several years there’s been a significant influx of money which has resulted in planting of steeper, harder to farm terrain with possible “terroir” (Law Estates comes to mind). Hard to know if some of these sites are special just yet (and the winemaking style may betray the site), but the topography and potential for micro-climes in Paso Robles’ west side is pretty dramatic.

I think the region still needs more restraint and maturity before it can take the next step and I think that ageability/longevity of the wines is typically one of the critical elements of any prestigious region. There’s no doubt in my mind that some producers and many vineyards offer longevity and balance, but it might take a bit more time before the region develops towards this direction.

The development of their sub-avas will be important step in communicating to collectors and consumers the identity of particular sites. The Willow Creek and Adelaida districts will be two critical sub-avas that will be important to developing greater “brand” equity for quality. As it stands, Paso Robles still has too great of a reputation as high alcohol, jammy wines. Shedding that reputation is necessary to become a prestigious region and is something of an inevitable reality from my view.

I’ve been waiting 20 years for Franconian Silvaner to take off. I guess I won’t live long enough.

Agreed. I have been stocking up and grabbing as much as I can find especially while some of the older vintages are still available.

I’m in complete agreement that Barolo & Barbaresco are only going to get higher and higher in prices with time. I think that as (Top) Burgundy continues to climb there will be a greater separation with quality and you’ll see people start to notice that with 10+ years in bottle Beaujolais can often play in the same leagues. It’s within the same area and the top bottles continue to climb in price. Five years ago no one would have thought Beaujolais could command $50+/bottle but here it is today. Top bottles are starting to test the waters. I think in 10 years time the top bottles will easily be in the high 70’s and we’ll all remember when we were only buying 3 or 4 bottles of wine that should have been bought by the case.

Agreed. Over the last two years, Etna has had the largest bottle count increase of any region in my cellar followed by Tuscany, Alto Piemonte, Loire, and Mosel.

I think Sonoma Coast will continue to attract more attention, also Anderson Valley.

Barolo and/or Northern Rhone.

Also, people might eventually figure out what the sierra foothills can do.

Nepal. Makes the foothills of the Piemonte look like peons…

Availability of Nepalese wine in the USA is severely limited at this time.

Any suggestions for easily accessible Etna wines? I’m in TX if that helps.
From a quick search on WB it looks like Calabretta Etna Rosso may be a good start?

I definitely think the Sonoma Coast is full of opportunity. I also like the potential of the Santa Lucia Highlands, although I like the long-term prospects of Syrah more there than Pinot Noir. My belief is that the next region to take off will be domestic even though it may not be distributed extensively internationally. Paso Robles makes sense because of the growing quality and distinctiveness in the domestic market of “Rhone Blends” versus Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.

Etna Rosso is great and I’ve been looking to some to my cellar, but maybe we need to define the term “taken off”. Have Priorat and Rioja taken off? They’re definitely in the consciousness of collectors, but they’re not really comparable to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo, Hermitage/Cote Rotie, Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Napa Valley in terms of prestige/brand. I still think there’s the possibility of upward movement of Piedmont (Barolo/Barbaresco) but I think it’s undeniable that they have the prestige even if they could theoretically sell for more.

Maybe I’m too close to Paso Robles, maybe I’ve spent too much time there, read too much about it and talked to too many people there to be objective. I don’t think that’s the case though. They’re just scratching the surface of their potential, the quality is very real and the terroir is real. There’s so many vineyards that have yet to see their potential and there’s so many cool corners and slopes that have yet to be planted. In 10-20+ years I think Paso Robles will be on the same level as Napa Valley.

Etna ? Please. I’ll wear an " I Love Brazil" t shirt for a week if that happens.

My guess is a resurgence is super Tuscans. The forward fruit will be appealing to up and coming wine drinkers.

Already happened, IMO. Pricing on Jamet and Allemand has gotten absurd off late, and a lot of other very good wines in St. Joseph or Cote-Rotie are seeing pretty rapid increases as well.

Benanti has national distribution. Expensive but very, very good.

You say they need more restrained styles, but it’s f-ing hot out there. What are they going to do, change the weather? I understand that there are some options, but it’s kind of a fight against nature when there are plenty of places that naturally give more restrained wines, right?

Terrasses du Larzac

Terre Nere single vineyards at $35 or even the basic Rossa for under $20 is a nice midweek pizza wine. Should be available in most markets.